eBay acquires courier startup Shutl, with plan to bring one hour local delivery to UK

eBay has acquired UK based startup courier service Shutl, outlining a plan to bring one hour delivery to British cities.

Shutl was started in London in 2009 and now operates across the country and the US. Currently, it provides courier services to retailers such as Schuh, Warehouse and Argos, allowing consumers to choose as soon as possible delivery or a one hour window.

The new service enabled by Shutl first launched in Chicago yesterday, and will be coming to London, as well as 20 other US cities, soon.

In a statement about the acquisition, eBay marketplaces president Devin Wenig said: "Today, approximately 75 per cent of what people buy is local, found within 15 miles from their home.

"Traditional retail isn't going away. But it is transforming, and that creates enormous opportunity within the $10 trillion total commerce market."

Announcing the takeover on the Shutl website, the firm's founder and CEO Tom Allason said: "Four years ago, we set out to change ecommerce delivery. Our mission was, and still is today, a simple one – to give people what they want, when they want it.

"eBay's bold vision to redefine local commerce is one that fits perfectly with what we have set out to achieve at Shutl."

Allason also asserted that the Shutl service will not change and the firm will continue to work with its existing clients. "Bottom line: this is very far from the end of the road for Shutl. Rather this is a doorway to a much greater opportunity, one that we at Shutl can't wait to start executing on," he wrote.

"We will be speeding up our national and international roll-outs and increasing our investment in new product development. In short, we will be working harder than ever to make our service faster, better and more accessible for consumers around the world."